Improvement in sewing-machines



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L HARRISON, n.

Sewing Machine.

Nn. 10,763. Patented April ii, i854.

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1. HARRISON, 1r.

i Sewing Machine.

No. 10,763. Patented April 11. |854.

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l s sh i-sh t3. 1. HARRISON, ir. ees e? Sewing Machine.

No. 10,763. Patented April ii, i854.

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.f f] `7 Y 6 "lim INITED STA'IES l PATENT IIFICE.

JAMES HARRISON, Jn.,- orlMILwAuxnn, WISCONSIN.

lMPRovl-:MENT IN siii/viNcs-MAcl-lINES.`

Speciticatioir forming part of Letters Patent No. l0,763, dated April 11, 1854.

To IrtZZ whom, it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, JAMES HARRISON, Jr., of `Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a front elevationof aY machine constructed according to myimprovements. Fig. 2is a longitudinal vertical section of the same, taken nearly in the center. y Fig. 3 is a plan of the same. Fig. 4 is `a top view of the shuttle, Showing it on a larger scale than the machine. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the same in the line rm of Fig. fl. Fig. 6 is a transverse section` of the same. Fig. 7 is an inside view of the top plate orcap of the shuttle.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures. A

The machine to which these improvements relate is of that well-known form in which the stitches are producedf by the interlacings of two threads, one of which is supplied by a needle and the other by a shuttle.

` a roller, and a screw, so combined and arranged as to hold the needle-thread secure at a point between the spool which carries it and the needle, and prevent its delivery from the spool except during such a portion of the lat-` ter part ofthe needles upward motion as may be desirable. This contrivance enables any degree of tightness that may be desired to be produced.

The second improvement relates to a contrivance for tightening that part of the stitch which is formed bythe shuttle. It consistsin furnishing the shuttle with a drag-bar, `which checks the delivery Vof the thread fromits bobbin, except during such a portion of the back part of the shuttles movementl as may be desirable, when it is allowed to release the thread by the action of a liberating-piece projecting on one side of the shuttle-race. This liberating-piece is adjustable, and may therefore be made to lengthen or shorten the delivery of the thread, and thereby control the tightness of the stitch.

The third improvement relates toa certain method, hereinafter described, of constructing the shuttle, whereby great facility is af forded for the removal and reinsertion of the ported on any suitable stand or base, and forms the table for the work.

B is the main` shaft, which is hung in bearA ings suspended below the bed-plate, and receives rotary motion either by a crank-handle, treadle, or other means. It carries the cams C for operating the shuttle-driver, B for operating the needle-arm, and E for operating the feed-bar.

F is the needle-arm,which is free to vibrate freely on an axis formed by two` center screws in a stand, G, which is bolted to the top of the bed-plate. It is extended back from its point of attachment to form a lever of the first order, and its back extremity is attached to a vertical rod, H, which extends upward from the frame I, in which works the cam D. This frame I is confined 'between vertical guides J J', attached below the bed-plate, and therefore receives motion only in a vertical line. The cam D is of that form known asa triangular cam,77 one side being an arc described from the axis of its Shaft, and the other two sides being arcs of similar radius and length. TheV two sides of the frame upon which the cam acts are parallel and at right angles to the line of its motion. This form of cam and frame causes one fourth of the revolution of the cam to give such motion to the needle-arm as to and it is conducted to the needle by guides b c I place, stands ilush with. the top of the bed- A on the needle-bar. v

L is the shuttle, which works in a raceway,

I K, sunkv inthe bed-plate and extending transup one on its front and the other on its butt end. These pickers form part of the frame M, in which works the cam C. The frame M works on guide-bars e e, parallel with the bedplate, and thus is only capable of receiving motion in the direction in which the shuttle is required to move. The cam C and frame M are of similar form to the cam D and frame I, which operate the needle-arm, and therefore give a similar motion to the shuttle; hence one fourth of the revolution of the cam drives the shuttle forward through the loop`protruded through the cloth by the needle, the second fourth holds it stationary at the end of its iiight, the third fourth returns it, and the last holds it stationary till thelproper time for the next iiight. The cams G and D are so arranged relatively to each other on the shaft that the shuttle does not commence its flight until the 'needle is protruded to its fullest extent through the cloth and becomes stationary. y Thevneedle does not return till the shuttle has terminated its iiight. The shuttle does not commence its the bed-plate in front of the shuttle-race, protruding above the surface of the bed-plate in the form of atooth, tf/,which is so formed that it will seize the cloth when moved in the desired direction of the feed, but will release it -and work under it when moving in the opposite direction. Thefeed-bar is driven by the cam E, rotating in contact with one side, and a spring, h, applied to the opposite side in such a way as to keep it in contact therewith. The cam E is so arranged relatively to the cams C and D as to move the feed-bar in the direction for moving the cloth while the needle is lifted from the cloth, but to move it back while the needle is in the cloth. The length of feed is controlled, and consequently thelength of stitch regulated, by a screw, P, which works in a' female screw in theunder part of the bed-plate.

`The point vof this screw serves as a stop to arrest the feed-bar when it is thrown back by the spring 7i after'theprominent portion of the cam passes it, and by adjusting the screw, and thereby controlling the distance which the feed-bar will follow back the cam, its forward ing removed for the purpose of taking out or adjusting the shuttle.y This plate, when in plate, and makes a perfectly even surface for the cloth to rest upon. The eloth'is held down on the` bed-plate while being sewed by a springholder, R, attached tothe stand G.

The individual operations of the needle, the l shuttle, and feed-bar above described are similar to the operations of corresponding parts in other machines where the needle and shuttle continue working all the time; but the order of succession of and intermissions in the motions of the needle and shuttle in this machine does not allow those parts to interfere with each other7 s operations, as the operation of one is suspended completely at the instant the operation of the other commences. This enables a more perfect seam to be produced, and reduces the liability to break threads.

The contrivance for drawing tight and regulating the tightness of that part of the stitchk formed by the needle-thread, consisting of the spring Q, roller S, and screw T, is shown in Figs. l, 2, and3; but the arrangement of parts to the top of the back part of the needle-arm in such a way that when left free it causes the roller to press upon the top of the needle-arm at a point between the spool J and the needle.

The needle-arm, at the part where the roller y rests, has such atransverse form given to it as to t the periphery of the roller. The thread in passing from the spool to the needle passes one, two, or more times round the roller, and when the roller is forced in contact with the need le-arm it is prevented revolving and the delivery isV stopped, and the thread held secure at the point of contact. The back part of the spring is provided with a female screw, which receives the male screw T. The lowery part of the male screw is kturned off smooth, and vpasses freely through a hole in the needle-arm, below which it protrudes far enough to come in contact with the top of the stand G before the termination ofthe upward move- Y ment of the needle and downward movement of the back part oi the needle-arm.V When the screw is forced down against the stand by the continued downward movement of the back part of the needle-arm, the spring Q is forced upward, and 'the roller S, being raised from contact with the arm, is left free toturn. By turning the screw so as to cause it to protrude more through the needle-arm,

the thread is liberated earlier, and by turning it so as to protrude less the thread is liberated later in the stroke of the needle-arm. During the ascent of the needle-arm, after protruding a loop through the cloth, the slack of the loop is all drawn up, after which the continued ascent of the arm tightens or exerts a tension on the thread until the screw R comes in\ contactkwith the stand G, and by raising the vroller from the needle-arm, as shown in red in Fig. 2, sets the thread free, and allows the continued ascent of the needle-arm to rd raw ronca A 1 it from the spool. The thread given out during each ascent of the needle-arm is that which forms the succeeding stitch, and it will be understood that the longerthe tension is exerted on the thread the less will be the quantity given out and the tighter the stitch, and vice versa. The screw admits of the tightness of the stitches being regulated with greatest nicety.

The contrivance for drawing tight and regulating the tightness of that part of the stitch formed by the shuttle-thread, consisting of the drag-bar T and liberating-piece U, `is shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 7. The shuttle is formed with an opening, z', in its top side, (see Fig. 7,) and this opening is covered by the Y drag-bar, which consists of a small flat piece of metal lying close on the top of the shuttle and pivoted at one end thereto. The dragbar contains onegor more eyes, j j, through one of which the thread from the bobbin leaves the shuttle, and its under side furnished with a spring, 7a, which acts in such away against one side of the hole fi as to force the drag-bar to a position in which the eyes j j are not over the hole i', but over the closed part of the shuttle. The thread, before passing through the eye, has to pass through the hole i, and is held, when the eye is not opposite the hole between the drag-bar and the closed part of the shuttle, with sufficient tightness to prevent its delivery. The `liberating-piece U is a small iiat plate of metal, dovetailed in a recess at the front side of the shuttle-race, and having its position controlled by a screw, V, so that its back end may be made to project more or less into the shuttle-race at a suitable elevation to come in contact with the drag-bar. The distance moved by the shuttle backward past the needle must be sufficient to draw the thread to a certain degree of tightness before the drag-bar reaches the liberating-piece. Near the termin ation of the backward flight of the shuttle, before putting in the filling-thread, the drag-bar comes in contact with the liberating-piece, and is back far enough to bring the eye j opposite the openingfi, and thus allow sufficient thread for the next stitch to be drawn out by the continuedinovement of the shuttle to the end of its flight. As the shuttle commences its forward flight thel drag-bar vworks clear of the liberating-piece, and again prevents the delivery of thread. The shuttle has only just thread enough out between its eye and the cloth to make the stitch and allow it to be driven the distance required, and thus insures the stitch being drawn perfectly tight. The degree of tightness can be regulated very perfectly by the screw V. By screwing in this screw and forcing in the liberating-piece the draw-bar is released earlier, and more thread is allowed to be delivered, as the movement of the shuttle with the thread free is greater. By screwing out the screw an opposite effect is produced.

The shuttle L is constructed in two parts. One part, L, which I term the shell, forms the bottom, two sides, and point. The other part, (shown detached in Fig. 7 which I term verse interior section being nearly an entire circle. The bobbin q is put in its place before the cap is put in the shell, and to remove the bobbin the cap requires to be taken. from the shell. lThis method of constructing the shuttle affords great facility for removing and inserting the bobbin, and is particularly convenient when the drag bar is applied as hereinbefore described. l

Having thus described my invention, I will proceed to state what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:-

1. The combination of the spring. Q, the roller S, and the screw or adjustable pin T, operating, in the manner described, to prevent the delivery of the needle-thread for the successive stitches until each preceding stitch is drawn to the desired degree of tightness, and

then to cause sufficient to be given out for the next stitch, thus regulating the tightness of that part of the stitch formed by the needlethread.

2. The combination of the drag-bar T, attached to the shuttle and containing the eye j, through which the thread passes therefrom, the spring Za, for throwing the said bar into a position to prevent the delivery of thread from the shuttle, and the adjustable liberatingpiece U, operating, as described, for the purpose of preventing the delivery of thread from the shuttle until after each stitch is finished, and then allowing only the quantity desired to be given out, whereby the tightness of that part of the stitchformed bythe shuttle-thread is perfectly regulated. l

3. Constructing the shuttle in two parts,

viz: the shell and cap, of which the latter is inserted into and withdrawn from the former endwise, as described.

JAMES HARRISON, JR. Witnesses: l Lnvr J. Mnnnicir,

C. W. PERKINS. 

